Hey! Here's Chapter 15! I hope you all enjoy it!

"Where are we going?" Dani inquired as she followed Amelia to the elevator.

Amelia hit the call button before turning to Dani with a warm smile.

"I thought we would try something a little different for our session today."

Dani heaved out a sigh as the elevator doors opened and stepped into it after Amelia.

"Okay, that didn't answer my question." She deadpanned as she looked down at the athletic shorts and black FBI hoodie she was wearing. "Nor does it explain why you had my workout clothes in your office, or why I'm wearing them."

"Let's just say I called in a favor." Amelia hummed.

"Cryptic, Doc. Very cryptic."

The elevator landed on the basement floor of the building. Realization dawned on Dani as she followed Amelia into the self-defense training room. Through the glass doors, Dani could see Derek in the middle of the room, wearing his own training clothing as he stretched his arms and shoulders. Amelia opened the door to the training room, and Derek immediately spun around.

"Hey, Princess!" He greeted with a bright smile.

"Hi, Derek." Dani responded; confusion eminent in her voice. "What's this all about?"

Amelia folded her arms over her chest, holding her notepad tightly.

"You've mentioned multiple times in our sessions how helpful your training with Agent Morgan has been, so I thought maybe we could use that to our advantage."

Derek reached for the hand wraps on the floor and tossed them to Dani, who caught them with ease despite the fact that she was completely exhausted. As she wrapped her hands quickly, Derek pulled on his training mitts. Amelia took several steps back, so she stood off of the sparring mat. As Derek clapped his mitts together and held his hands in the air, Dani looked to Amelia for direction.

"I've noticed over the past few weeks that you refuse to acknowledge anything negative about your circumstance." Amelia announced. "Yes, you voice concerns for your family, but it's always followed up with something along the lines of 'but it could be worse'"

"Yeah." Dani confirmed shortly. "Because it could always be worse."

"That in no way makes anything you have gone through less difficult."

"Okay, but where does Derek come in with all of this?"

Before Amelia could answer, a training mitt collided heavily with Dani's head, resulting in a dull thud. Caught off guard, Dani stumbled a couple steps to the side, but quickly rebounded and immediately shoved Derek, her glare burning holes into him.

"What the hell, man?" She yelled. "What was that all about?"

Wordlessly, Derek gestured to Amelia. Dani turned her attention back to Amelia, her hands still clenched into angry fists. A small, knowing smirk played at Amelia's lips as she cleared her throat.

"That anger…" Amelia began, gesturing between Dani and Derek. "Will only continue to get worse if you don't admit that there are things in life that still hurt."

Dani set her jaw and straightened her spine as she glanced from Amelia, to Derek, and then back to Amelia.

"This is going to fucking suck."


For what felt like the millionth time, one of Derek's sparring mitts came into direct contact with the side of Dani's head. Dani had come to expect it, and no longer stumbled with the contact. Now, every time Derek was able to get a blow in, she let out a frustrated growl and shoved him away from her. Every muscle in Dani's body was screaming, and she had long discarded her hoodie, leaving her in her athletic shorts and a racerback tank top. Her ponytail was no longer tight to her head, and strands of hair were sticking out in every direction.

"God Damnit, Derek!" Dani yelled as she took several steps backward, finally fed-up with the light blows to the head.

Amelia was watching closely in the back of the room; which Dani was hyper aware of. She could feel the therapist's eyes on her constantly, and she heard the scribbles of Amelia writing something down on her notepad every few minutes. Dani whipped around to face Amelia and threw her hands up in the air.

"What good is this doing?" She questioned. "Now I'm just pissed off."

"Good." Amelia stated simply, not even looking up from her notes.

"Excuse me?"

Dani took another step toward Amelia, cocking a challenging eyebrow.

"I said good." Amelia repeated. "Now, tell me why you're pissed off."

"Because you're standing there, writing something down on your damn clipboard while Morgan does whatever the hell he wants."

"Agent Morgan is doing exactly what I asked him to do."

"What do you want from me, lady?" Dani exclaimed, tears of frustration and exhaustion forming in her eyes.

"I want you to tell me why you're so angry." Amelia stated, her tone calm and collected as she eyed Dani closely.

"You really want to know why I'm angry? Huh?" Dani scoffed, interlocking her hands on the top of her head and clenching her jaw for a brief moment before laughing bitterly and shaking her head. "I'm angry, because I spent fifteen years of my life without a family, and now that I have one, I can't shake the feeling that I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop!"

"Why?" Amelia pushed, taking one step onto the sparring mat.

"Because my moms travel the country chasing down serial killers!"

"What else?"

With a primal growl, Dani spun around and started throwing punch after punch at Derek's hands. She was moving so quickly that Derek struggled to keep up. After several blows, Dani turned back around, breathing harshly.

"I haven't even looked at a piano in years." She huffed. "Because the people who were supposed to keep me safe turned me into some fucked up psychological experiment."

"Talk to me about that." Amelia said softly.

"Why?" Dani challenged. "It's not going to change what happened."

"You're right, it won't." Amelia nodded. "But it'll help you to get it out. Don't filter it. What you say in here, stays between the three of us."

Dani hesitantly looked back to Derek, who nodded in agreement.

"No one but us." He repeated.

Dani swallowed harshly and began flexing her hands as she stared at the sparring mat. It took a few moments, but she finally lifted her head and took a deep breath.

"I didn't go to school like other kids my age." She began. "I was homeschooled. Conrad and Anna were professors, so they would teach me on days that they didn't have classes. Sometimes, I would go to class with Anna. Most of my lessons, though, were piano lessons…"

Amelia and Derek listened closely, not wanting to pull Dani away from the train of thought that she was on. Dani's eyes had glazed over, which sent worry flooding into Derek. He had taken a step closer to Dani, but Amelia's hand on his forearm stopped him from getting any closer. After a few moments of silence, Dani continued.

"The reason Conrad wanted to adopt me was because of my piano playing. He didn't care about the languages I spoke, or the fact that I had an IQ higher than most adults. He had this sick fascination with how the nuns would punish me for playing something wrong. Every wrong note meant ten lashes to my hands with a metal ruler. When he and Anna visited the orphanage, he had them demonstrate. Even if I played a correct note, the nun- Sister Maria- would hit my hands until they bled… I learned not to cry by the time I was four. Crying just made her hit me harder."

Dani's voice trailed off and she clenched her eyes shut, forcing the intruding images of her own bleeding hands out of her mind.

"What happened when you got to DC?" Amelia inquired, directing Dani back into her story.

"Conrad bought a gorgeous Fazioli piano, and he made me play for hours a day. He didn't know how to play piano, but he knew classical music well enough to pick out a wrong note. He logged every session and every time he used the ruler on my hands. After six months, he had filled up three notebooks with records of my lesson. Once Anna died, it didn't even matter what I played… he would just snap sometimes."

As she spoke, Dani had unwrapped her hands and was now staring at her knuckles.

"You want to know what I'm most angry about?" She asked. "I'm angry that I was given the ability to play beautiful music, but all it brought me was these scars."

With a choked sigh, she dropped her hands to her sides and lifted her gaze back to Derek and Amelia.

"I think we're done for the day, yeah?" Amelia proposed. "You made a lot of progress today, Dani."

Nodding, Dani picked her hoodie up from the mat and pulled it on.

"Then why doesn't it feel like I did?"


"Hey, you." Emily greeted, standing up from her desk as Dani trudged into the bullpen with Derek directly behind her.

"Hey." Dani responded with a forced smile.

"How was your appointment?"

Dropping her backpack onto the floor, Dani walked directly into Emily and buried her face in the crook of the older woman's neck as she hugged her tightly. Ignoring the fact that Dani was drenched in sweat, Emily hugged her back with equal fervor.

"It'll get easier." Emily whispered softly.

Dani nodded and pulled away from the embrace. She could feel Derek's eyes on them, and the way Reid had ducked his head exaggeratedly let Dani know that he was trying hard not to pay attention.

"Is Mama in her office?" Dani asked. "I might just go sleep on her couch until it's time to leave."

"Yeah, sweetheart." Emily nodded. "She's in there. Just knock."

Wordlessly, Dani picked up her backpack and threw it over her shoulder. As she turned towards the stairs to the second level, Derek stood up from his chair and cleared his throat.

"Hey, Princess." He called.

Dani slowly turned back around to face Derek. Her shoulders were slumped forward with exhaustion, and her eyes were brimmed with unshed tears.

"I'm always here." Derek insisted. "If you ever need anything. I'm in your corner."

Dani ducked her head in acknowledgment and forced a smile before going to JJ's office. She knocked lightly, waiting until JJ's voice filtered through the door.

"Come in."

Slowly, Dani opened the door. JJ was at her desk with her glasses rested on the bridge of her nose as she looked over several open files at the same time. JJ glanced up at her, and a warm smile immediately spread across her face.

"Hi, love."

JJ's smile faltered when she saw how beaten down Dani looked.

"What's wrong?" She asked, taking her glasses off and leaning forward onto her desk. "Do you need to talk?"

"Is it okay if I just sleep?" Dani asked, pointing to the couch that was tucked in the corner of the office.

Immediately, JJ nodded, but her worried expression didn't go away. She watched carefully as Dani dropped her backpack to the floor and curled up on the couch. JJ pushed herself up from her desk and opened the cabinet next to it, pulling out a blanket. She quietly moved across the room and draped the blanket over Dani before dropping a kiss to her forehead.

"I'll be done within the hour, then we'll go home."

With her eyes already closed, Dani nodded in understanding before pulling the blanket up to her chin. JJ didn't go back to her paperwork until Dani's breathing evened out, letting the blonde know that she was fast asleep.


"Is there a reason you're pushing this so hard?"

Dani's voice echoed through the house as she and Penelope came through the front door. Emily and JJ both looked up from the books they were reading and waited for them to appear from the foyer. As Dani and Penelope strode into the living room, Dani was rolling her eyes dramatically as Penelope followed after her, speaking a thousand words a minute. Penelope threw herself down onto the open armchair while Dani diverted her own path and went into the kitchen.

"I'm pushing because that's what you need." Penelope insisted. "A push."

"Penelope." Dani groaned, her head in the fridge. "I didn't tell you about it just so you could badger me about joining the team."

"What's going on?" JJ inquired, looking between Emily and Penelope.

Emily shrugged and shook her head while Penelope heaved a sigh.

"Figures, she wouldn't tell you two."

"I didn't tell them…" Dani started as she strode into the living room with an apple and a bottle of water and sat down between Emily and JJ. "Because it's not a big deal."

"It is so a big deal!"

Rolling her eyes yet again, Dani took a bite of her apple, saving herself from having to answer.

"Would either of you like to explain what this conversation is about?" Emily suggested, reaching over and plucking the apple from Dani's grasp and taking a bite, earning a whine of protest from the teen.

"You know how Washington Prep only has the best track team this side of the Mississippi?" Penelope asked.

"We're aware." JJ nodded. "How did you know that, Pen?"

"I researched the daylights out of that school the second you told me that's where you were sending my Goddaughter." Penelope responded in a tone that could only be used to mean 'duh'.

"Ah." JJ laughed. "Continue."

"Thank you." Penelope huffed. "Anyway, the coach of said track team is also Dani's gym teacher, and apparently said coach-slash-gym teacher of aforementioned team has personally invited Dani to join the team."

"That's great!" Emily exclaimed, nudging Dani with her knee.

Dani responded with nothing more than a single-shouldered shrug as she kept her eyes on the floor.

"I'm not joining the team, so it doesn't really matter." Dani muttered.

"Why aren't you?" JJ questioned, tilting her head to the side.

Again, Dani responded with a shrug.

"If the coach says you should join the team, it's obviously for a reason." Emily stated warmly.

"Yeah, and that reason is that she's the Usain Bolt of teenage girls." Penelope added.

"That's not even close to true." Dani countered. "Usain Bolt's top speed is 27 miles per hour. It's physically impossible for someone with my build and stature to reach a speed like that."

"Oh, whatever, Einstein. You need to stop seeing movies with Reid. You're starting to sound like him." Penelope sighed. "Derek told me last week that you lapped every single FBI recruit on the track."

JJ and Emily looked to Dani with impressed glances, and Dani let out a reluctant sigh.

"I kept up with them, yes." She conceded.

"I think you should do it." Emily announced.

"I second that." JJ added.

Dani hesitantly glanced between JJ and Emily, who were both giving her beaming, encouraging smiles.

"Alright, fine." Dani breathed. "I'll give it a shot."

Dani, JJ, and Emily were 100% sure that the neighbors heard Penelope's shriek of excitement.


"This is where you live?"

Dani gazed up at the mansion that stood proudly in front of her, her mouth agape, as Nate pulled his Jeep around the circular driveway and parked it directly in front of the house.

"It is." Nate nodded.

"So…. When your parents are out of town, you have the whole thing to yourself?"

Nate gave a non-committal shrug as he pulled his backpack out of the back seat.

"The cleaning crew comes in once a week, and a few of my father's colleagues have a key. They let themselves in and out."

"Doesn't it get lonely?"

Nate didn't answer Dani's question. Instead, he pushed the heavy front door open and ushered her into the massive foyer. Immediately, Dani felt something heavy smack into her leg. She looked down to find a white, fluffy little dog staring up at her.

"Well, hello there." She cooed, kneeling down and petting the dog. "Who might you be?"

"That's Tank." Nate chuckled.

Dani cocked a quizzical eyebrow and peered up at him.

"Tank?"

"Charlie named him." Nate explained. "He thought it was funny since he's such a small dog."

Nodding in understanding and smiling brightly, Dani scratched behind Tank's ears once more for good measure before following Nate down a long hallway. As they got closer to what must have been the kitchen, music reached Dani's ears along with the sound of pots and pans clanging together.

"Mom?" Nate called out.

"Oh! Nate, honey! I'm in the kitchen."

"Yeah, obviously." Nate muttered to himself, earning a quite chuckle from Dani.

Finally, the hallway opened up into a ridiculous, completely open, fully updated kitchen. Standing in the middle of the ridiculous amount of counter space and the multitude of appliances was a tall, powerful looking woman. Her hair was long and greying at the roots but fell in flawless ringlets past her shoulders. The baby blue apron she was wearing was covered in whatever it was that she was cooking. As soon as Dani and Nate entered the kitchen, her eyes popped up and she beamed at them.

"Welcome home." Nate smiled.

The woman quickly untied her apron and threw it on the counter before hurrying around the kitchen island and throwing her arms around him tightly. Despite the fact that she was in heels, Nate still towered over her.

"I missed you so much!" She exclaimed. "You would have loved Berlin."

"I missed you too, mom."

"Oh, I'm being so rude!"

Dani plastered on the best smile she could as Nate's mom turned to her. Without any sort of warning, Dani was pulled into a crushing hug.

"I'm Mrs. Whittaker, but you can call me Kathy."

"It's nice to meet you." Dani responded, still being crushed by Kathy's surprisingly strong hold. "I'm Dani."

"Let me get a look at you." Kathy breathed, pulling away from the hug, but maintaining a hold on Dani's shoulders.

Kathy dragged her eyes from Dani's shoes, back up to her face. It took all of Dani's willpower not to squirm under the woman's gaze. Dani didn't think it was possible, but Kathy's smile grew wider as she examined Dani's features.

"You are absolutely stunning."

"Thank you, ma'am." Dani blushed.

"Gorgeous and polite." Kathy observed, turning her attention back to Nate. "I can see how she's got you wrapped around her little finger."

"Mom!" Nate protested.

Deciding to spare Nate any further embarrassment, Dani interjected.

"What're you cooking?" She inquired.

Kathy heaved a heavy sigh and shook her head hopelessly.

"It's supposed to be dinner." She explained. "But something tells me we'll be ordering in."

"I can help if you'd like." Dani offered. "I know my way around a kitchen."

"Ugh, you're an angel!"

Before she could respond, Dani found herself being dragged around to the other side of the kitchen island. As Kathy grabbed a second apron from the pantry door and carefully placed it over Dani's head, Dani's eyes found Nate's. He was watching her closely, with that same crooked smirk that gave her butterflies in her stomach. When Dani blushed and ducked her head modestly, Nate cleared his throat.

"Where's dad?" He asked.

"He's in his study, dear. I'm sure he would love to see you."

Kathy was too busy glancing over the pages of her clearly unused cookbook to look up at Nate as she spoke to him. As Dani tied the strings of her apron behind her back, she shot him an apologetic glance, which was quickly answered with an encouraging wink.

"I'll be right back." He announced, more for Dani's sake than his mother's.

"Oh, don't worry about us!" Kathy called after him. "I'll take good care of Dani."

Once Nate was out of earshot, Kathy slid the cookbook across the counter, so it sat directly in front of Dani.

"I have no idea what I'm doing." Kathy admitted.

Dani laughed brightly as she pulled her hair up into a bun and examined the page for a split second.

"Got it." Dani stated, shutting the book.

Kathy eyed Dani is disbelief and shook her head.

"There's no way you read all of that."

Dani simply smirked at the older woman and grabbed the butcher-wrapped roast that was sitting on the counter.

"Ready to learn something?"


"Dani, this is absolutely incredible."

Dani's eyes drifted up to Lewis Whittaker, who was sitting at the head of the table. She smiled modestly and shook her head.

"It was all Kathy, sir." She insisted. "I simply supervised."

"That's not quite how it went." Kathy chuckled as she took a sip of her wine. "However, I appreciate you helping me save some face."

Lewis smiled at his wife warmly as he dabbed his chin with his napkin.

"Now, Dani…" He began. "You look incredibly familiar. What did you say your last name was?"

"I didn't." Dani clarified nervously. "It's Prentiss, though."

"You officially changed it?" Nate asked. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Mom got the paperwork expedited. I just got my new birth certificate yesterday. It just didn't come up."

Nate opened his mouth to speak again, but Lewis held his hand up, silencing him.

"You're not related to Elizabeth Prentiss, are you?"

Dread filled Dani's chest as she tried to figure out how to answer. It was obvious that Elizabeth hadn't been very open about Emily's teenage pregnancy, which meant that most- if not all- of her colleagues weren't aware that Dani existed. Nor were they aware of the fact that Emily had even been pregnant. Realizing that there was no way out of this situation without raising some serious red flags, Dani conceded.

"She's my grandmother." Dani nodded, fighting a grimace when Lewis's eyebrows shot up to his hairline and he fell back against his chair. "It's a rather long story."

"Care to tell it?" Lewis prompted.

"Dad." Nate interjected. "Dani doesn't have to explain herself to you."

Lewis held his hands up in surrender and shook his head.

"My apologies, Dani." He breathed. "I just wasn't aware that Elizabeth had any grandchildren."

"It's just me. No other grandkids."

"That would make you Emily's daughter, yes?"

"Dad- "

"It would." Dani responded proudly.

"And how old are you?"

"I'm about to turn sixteen, sir."

Lewis gave nothing more than a noncommittal hum, and Dani immediately regretted ever telling him her last name. The rest of dinner went by painfully slowly. Kathy would ask the occasional question while Nate watched Dani with a concerned gaze.

As soon as it was a reasonable time to leave, Dani practically ran out the front door and straight to Nate's car. As soon as she closed the passenger side door, she let out a shaky breath. Nate got into the car a couple seconds later and immediately pulled the car out of the driveway. The first few minutes of the drive were silent, but Dani finally spoke.

"He's going to call Elizabeth, isn't he?"

"I asked him not to." Nate responded.

"That's not a yes or a no, Nathan."

Nate didn't respond. They both knew that Lewis had every intention of calling Elizabeth and digging for more information. He was a politician, they fed on other politicians' indiscretions. After what felt like a lifetime, Nate pulled the car up to the curb in front of Dani's house.

"My mom is going to be so pissed." Dani muttered.

"No, she won't, Dani." Nate insisted. "I think it's obvious that Emily has no intention of keeping you a secret."

Dani nodded hesitantly and took a deep breath as she pushed the car door open.

"I'll see you on Monday?" She inquired.

"Before then, if you need me." Nate smiled.

Abandoning all second guessing, Dani leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Nate's cheek. It was so light and so quick, that it was almost as if it hadn't happened, but the ridiculously giddy smile that spread across Nate's features gave Dani all of the information she needed.

"Thank you."

Without another word, Dani took off toward the house. Dani burst into the foyer and quickly removed her blazer and shoes before hurrying into the living room. Emily and JJ were curled up under a blanket, watching old Golden Girls reruns. As soon as Dani came sliding into the living room, Emily paused the TV and gazed up at her.

"I might've done something really stupid." Dani breathed.

JJ and Emily instantly straightened up.

"What's wrong?" JJ asked.

"So, Nathan's dad is a diplomat, right?" Dani began.

"Yeah." Emily drawled. "What about him?"

"Well, he said I looked familiar and asked me what my last name was, so I said it was Prentiss and then he asked if I was related to Elizabeth, and I didn't want to lie but I also didn't want to out you for getting pregnant at fifteen, but I panicked and said I was so now he knows that I'm your daughter and Elizabeth's granddaughter-"

Dani began speaking so quickly that she forgot to breathe. Realizing that she was about to start hyperventilating, Emily cut her off.

"Dani, breathe."

After a beat, Dani pulled in a ragged, wheezing breath and released it slowly.

"Are you mad?" She asked.

"Why would I be mad, sweetheart?"

"Because I told a scary politician that you had a secret baby when you were fifteen."

"You told a scary politician the truth." Emily chuckled. "Lord knows I didn't do that when I was your age."

"So… I'm not in trouble? Even if Lewis calls Elizabeth and tells her that her granddaughter is galivanting around town, telling everyone she knows that she has an illegitimate grandchild?"

JJ and Emily couldn't help the laughter that tumbled from their lips. Dani groaned dramatically and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Moms!" She protested. "I'm serious."

"Come here, baby." JJ laughed.

Dani trudged over to the couch and threw herself down onto it, placing her head on JJ's lap and her feet on Emily's. JJ's fingers immediately threaded through Dani's hair soothingly.

"You need to stop watching soap operas with Penelope, first off." Emily chuckled. "And second, whatever problems my mother has, she can take them up with me. You have every right to the Prentiss name, and I'm proud that you have it."

Dani's eyes fluttered shut as JJ continued to run her fingers through her hair.

"I hate politics." Dani mumbled.

"Tell me about it." Emily scoffed.

Just as Dani had begun to fully relax, there was a harsh knock at the front door. Dani quickly lifted her head from JJ's lap and pushed herself off of the couch.

"I got it."

Dani disappeared into the foyer for a few seconds before coming flying back into the living room with wide eyes.

"It's Elizabeth."

Thank you for reading!